


The Dragon King and the Princeling

by thacmis



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Angst, Art, Charles Being Concerned, Digital Art, Dragons, Erik Has Feelings, Fantasy, Happy Ending, Hurt Erik, Illustration, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-16 20:31:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13061610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thacmis/pseuds/thacmis
Summary: Charles is a young prince with a heart full of adventures but he is being married off to a prince of another land who hardly cares about Charles.Erik is a fearsome Dragon King who's being hunted by Charles' soon-to-be husband. One day, fate brings the Dragon King and the young prince together and they begin a plan...[Art + ficlet]





	The Dragon King and the Princeling

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lamia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lamia/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [Lamia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lamia/pseuds/Lamia) in the [secret_mutant_madness_2017](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/secret_mutant_madness_2017) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> Charles is a young prince with a heart full of adventures but he is being married off to a prince of another land who hardly cares about Charles. 
> 
> Erik is a fearsome Dragon King who's being hunted by Charles' soon-to-be husband. One day, fate brings the Dragon King and the young prince together and they begin a plan...

 

"Why did you... why did you?" whispered Charles.

Erik laughed hoarsely, but the sounds quickly turned into coughs. The Dragon King grimaced. His once-bright yellow eyes were dim and grey, but still they looked up at Charles with a focus so intense it made Charles' breath stutter. "Because, Charles," he said, "There's nothing left for me here, save you."

Charles' eyes widened and his grip on Erik's hand shook. "What do you mean? You have your mountains, your kingdom of Genoshan wilderness..."

"And what is that to me, if I'm to rule it alone? Charles," he groaned, grimacing again as he lowered himself onto his knees.

Hot, pulsing blood pumped out of the wound that Shaw had ripped open. Charles rushed forward to try to stopper the blood with his bare hands, but even wounded, Erik caught and maintained Charles' wrists in an iron grip. Charles felt dangerously close to crying and he knew his eyes shone with a layer of tears as he looked up at the Dragon King. When had he come to feel so strongly for this impossible man? Charles had hated him, for his uncivilized ways and violent worldviews, and he had only formed an alliance with this creature to kill a maniacal tyrant, but now... 

"I don't care!" Charles cried. "You're dying, Erik, you're  _dying_." He struggled to escape Erik's grip, to no avail.

"Burning your hands with my dragon blood isn't going to help anyone," Erik replied gently. "I promised I'd keep you unharmed; that promise still stands."

Charles swallowed the lump in his throat and squeezed his eyes shut. "Then what do we do?" 

"Nothing." Erik groaned as he settled back against a rock. Erik was in much more pain than he let on; Charles knew; Erik would never wince, would never show signs of weakness if he could help it. "Drawback of immortality. Our bodies won't accept outside help for healing. We either heal if we can handle it or... if it's too much..."

Charles stared at Erik's wound, still pulsating with dark crimson blood. He blinked as the words took form in his mind. Charles surged forward to grip Erik's hand. "Then there's still hope. You'll live?"

"Perhaps." Erik smiled tiredly.

"You mustn't die," Charles demanded rather angrily. He was being unfair, he knew, but he'd finally realized what these strange feelings were regarding Erik, and Charles couldn't lose him, not now.

"I thought you hated me," Erik coughed. " 'Good riddance, once this alliance is over,' didn't you say?"

"Shut up," Charles said, without any heat. His cheeks burned. Feeling embarrassed and uncharacteristically shy, Charles sniffed while he played with Erik's hand, trailing his fingers over the hard, warm scales. "I... may have had a change of... heart."

Erik laughed quietly. "Friends, now, are we?"

Charles cleared his throat. "Not... just friends."

Erik's chuckled died away. For a very long time there was just silence, and Charles didn't dare look up. His ears felt hot, and he trained his eyes where he was still stroking Erik's hand, which, to Charles' immense relief, Erik had not pulled away. 

Or was it because Erik was too weak from blood loss to do so?

Well, he didn't want Erik to die because he was too embarrassed and cowardly to face rejection. He took a deep breath, and looked up.

Erik was staring at him with large, inscrutable eyes. 

Charles couldn't read his expression - it looked entirely blank. They held their gaze for a long while, before Charles finally croaked, "Well? Won't you say something?" And then, "Are you... all right?"

Erik still said nothing.

Well, then. It was hard not to read that as anything other than a rejection. Mortification settling into his chest like a stone, Charles began to pull away and averted his face, now probably as red as Erik's blood. "I'm sorry, forget that I said anything. We'll stay here for another couple of days for you to heal, and then -"

Erik's hand shot out to take Charles and pull him back. Charles stumbled, and then landed with his knees on either side of Erik's thighs, his face an inch away from Erik's.

"It took a mortal wound for my feelings to be reciprocated?" Erik whispered, staring at Charles' lips.

Charles gasped.

Erik closed the distance between their mouths, and though the tiny drops of blood from Erik's cut lips burned him, Charles didn't mind at all.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like this Lamia!!!


End file.
